Disclosed herein is a method for adjusting nip width based on the measured hardness of a fuser roll in an image production device, as well as corresponding apparatus and computer-readable medium.
The nip width is the measured arc distance created by the intersection of a soft fuser roll and a hard pressure roll in an image production device, such as a printer, copier, multi-function device, etc, which enables heat transfer and pressure needed to fuse prints. If the nip width is not set properly, toner is improperly melted and pressed (fused) against the paper resulting in image quality defects. In addition, improper nip setting can result in excessive wear of the fuser roll surface which results in image quality defects in the form of areas containing unacceptable differential gloss.
An accurate and consistent nip width increases fuser roll life by helping to minimize edge wear on the roll. It has been shown that uneven and excessive nip settings, inboard to outboard, result in accelerated edge wear. The nip width is supposed to be checked and adjusted with every fuser roll replacement. This measurement is not always done and combined with roll Durometer varying significantly from batch to batch, the roll nip widths are frequently incorrectly set. In addition, as the fuser roll ages the softness of the rubber changes resulting in less-than-optimum nip widths.